Communication between touch-panel devices

Abstract

Technologies described herein generally relate to communications between electronic systems. Each electronic system includes a touch-panel device that may be positioned in proximity to one another such that the near field emissions of the touch-panel devices interact with one another. The touch-panel devices can be adapted to sense one another based on these near field emissions. Once detected, the touch-panel devices can be configured to establish a communication channel to communicate information between one another via modulated near field emissions. Such exchanged information may include identification information, network addresses, security keys, and so forth. The exchanged information may be used for discovery or pairing between the touch-panel devices. The technology presented herein can support an intuitive user experience and improved security over traditional wireless pairing approaches.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A touch-panel device comprising:
 a processor; 
 a detect electrode including a touch-panel grid of capacitive electrodes; and 
 a controller coupled to the processor, the controller including a detection circuit coupled to the detect electrode, wherein the controller is configured to receive a first signal from the detect electrode with the detection circuit, detect a modulation in the received first signal, and determine information associated with the detected modulation, wherein the detected modulation in the first signal is indicative of a physical proximity between the touch-panel device and another touch-panel device, wherein the first signal is provided by another touch-panel grid of capacitive electrodes of the other touch-panel device. 
 
     
     
       2. The touch-panel device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to detect a discovery beacon in the first signal from the determined information. 
     
     
       3. The touch-panel device of  claim 1 , further comprising a drive electrode, wherein the controller further comprises a driver circuit that is coupled to the drive electrode, wherein the driver circuit of the controller is configured to generate a second signal that is coupled to a drive electrode of the touch-panel device. 
     
     
       4. The touch-panel device of  claim 3 , wherein the controller is further configured to encode a discovery beacon in the second signal such that the discovery beacon is conveyed to the other touch-panel device via the drive electrode of the touch-panel device. 
     
     
       5. The touch-panel device of  claim 3 , wherein the controller is further configured to encode information in the second signal such that the encoded information is conveyed to the other touch-panel device via the drive electrode of the touch-panel device. 
     
     
       6. The touch-panel device of  claim 3 , wherein the controller is further configured to establish a communication channel between the touch-panel device and the other touch-panel device, wherein the drive electrode and the detect electrode of the touch-panel device operate as a respective one of a transmitter and a receiver for the communication channel. 
     
     
       7. The touch-panel device of  claim 6 , wherein the controller is further configured to share a key with the other touch-panel device using the communication channel. 
     
     
       8. The touch-panel device of  claim 6 , wherein the controller is further configured to share identification information with the other touch-panel device using the communication channel. 
     
     
       9. The touch-panel device of  claim 8 , wherein the identification information relates to sharing a peripheral device with the other touch-panel device. 
     
     
       10. The touch-panel device of  claim 8 , wherein the identification information relates to establishing a second communication channel with the other touch-panel device. 
     
     
       11. The touch-panel device of  claim 1 , further comprising a dielectric covering at least a portion of an outer surface of the touch-panel device. 
     
     
       12. A computer readable storage product having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for a method which, when executed by a computing device, adapt the computing device to establish communications utilizing a touch-panel device, the method comprising:
 modulating information in a first signal; 
 coupling the first signal to a drive electrode including a touch-panel grid of capacitive electrodes of the touch-panel device such that the drive electrode generates a first electromagnetic field in response to the first signal; 
 receiving a second signal from a detect electrode of the touch-panel device, wherein the second signal is responsive to a second electromagnetic field provided by another touch-panel grid of capacitive electrodes of another touch-panel device; and 
 establishing a communications channel between the touch-panel device and the other touch-panel device using the first signal and the second signal. 
 
     
     
       13. The computer readable storage product of  claim 12 , wherein modulating the first signal comprises encoding the first signal with symbols, wherein the symbols are associated with one or more of a discovery beacon, data, and/or an acknowledgement. 
     
     
       14. The computer readable storage product of  claim 12 , the method further comprising exchanging a key between the touch-panel device and the other touch-panel device using the communications channel. 
     
     
       15. The computer readable storage product of  claim 14 , the method further comprising securing information exchanged between the touch-panel device and the other touch-panel device using the key. 
     
     
       16. The computer readable storage product of  claim 14 , the method further comprising authenticating information exchanged between the touch-panel device and the other touch-panel device using the key. 
     
     
       17. A computer-implemented method for communicating between a first touch-panel device and a second touch-panel device, the method comprising:
 receiving, at the first touch-panel device, a first signal from a first electrode including a touch-panel grid of capacitive electrodes coupled to a first panel of the first touch-panel device, wherein the first signal is provided by a second touch-panel grid of capacitive electrodes of the second touch-panel device; 
 detecting, at the first touch-panel device, a modulation in the first signal, wherein the modulation indicates a communication from the second touch-panel device; and 
 determining, at the first touch-panel device, information associated with the modulation. 
 
     
     
       18. The computer-implemented method of  claim 17 , further comprising generating, at the first touch-panel device, a second signal to be driven to a second electrode of the first touch-panel device. 
     
     
       19. The computer-implemented method of  claim 18 , further comprising establishing a communications channel between the first touch-panel device and the second touch-panel device, wherein transmission and reception over the communications channel is facilitated via the first signal and the second signal. 
     
     
       20. The computer-implemented method of  claim 19 , further comprising sharing identification information and/or security keys over the communications channel.